John Key has announced that he will resign as prime minister of New Zealand, after eight years in the job. Called it \u2018the hardest decision I\u2019ve ever made,\u2019 an emotional Mr Key said \u2018I don\u2019t know what I\u2019ll do next\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Deputy PM Bill English is likely to take over until the National Party holds a caucus to choose a new PM. Mr Key, a popular leader, is stepping down at the request of his wife Bronagh, the New Zealand Herald reports.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He won a third term for the National Party at elections in September 2014. He said he would not be contesting the 2017 election.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018Nothing left\u2019 Mr Key made the announcement during his weekly press conference, citing family reasons for the surprise decision. He set a date of 12 December for the formal resignation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He said his job required great sacrifices \u2018from those who are dearest to me\u2019 and that his children had coped with \u2018an extraordinary level of intrusion\u2019. \u2018All I can say is that I gave it everything I had. I have left nothing in the tank.\u2019<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My Key, who was formerly at Merrill Lynch as a foreign exchange dealer, ended nine years of Labour Party rule in 2008 when he ousted Helen Clark as prime minister.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Labour leader Andrew Little tweeted: \u2018John Key has served New Zealand generously and with dedication. I wish him and his family the best for the future.\u2019 Green Party co-leader Meteria Turei also wished him well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018I fought every day against John`s politics but always supported his right to be a dad and a husband first,\u2019 she tweeted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Known by the local media as \u2018Teflon John\u2019 because very little controversy has stuck to him during his time in office, Mr Key is credited with steering New Zealand through the 2008 global economic crisis and out of recession.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He has sought to build closer ties with the US, taking a leading role in supporting President Barack Obama\u2019s Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) – a 12 country trade deal covering 40% of the world economy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, Donald Trump`s recent victory in the US has derailed that process, our correspondent says, with his announcement the US would be quitting the TPP on his first day in office in January.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u2018Great loss\u2019<\/p>\n
When Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull learned of the news, he sent Mr Key a text message reading \u2018say it ain\u2019t so, bro\u2019.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mr Turnbull said New Zealand had boxed above its weight under Mr Key\u2019s leadership. \u2018He will be a great loss to New Zealand and a great loss to the world,\u2019 Mr Turnbull said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott played on their two countries\u2019 cricketing rivalry to say Mr Key had enjoyed a \u2018fine innings\u2019. \u2018Not many pollies retire unbeaten on a double ton,\u2019 he tweeted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said: \u2018John Key has been a good friend to Australia. I wish him and his family all the best.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Key has announced that he will resign as prime minister of New Zealand, after eight years in the job. Called it ‘the hardest decision I’ve ever made,’ an emotional Mr Key said ‘I don’t know what I’ll do next’. Deputy PM Bill English is likely to take over until the National Party holds a caucus to choose a new PM. Mr Key, a popular leader, is stepping down at the request of his wife Bronagh, the New Zealand Herald reports. He won a third term for the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4424"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4435,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4424\/revisions\/4435"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}